‘Audioshield’ Looks Like Virtual Reality ‘Guitar Hero’

We have been following the mixed-reality VR game trailers from the folks over at Fantastic Contraption for awhile now, even going so far as to say that what they are creating is the “future of VR game trailers.”

Well now we have another great example of how mixed-reality VR game trailers are probably one of our favorite ways to promote what it’s actually like to demo a game in VR versus standard screenshots or in-headset video footage.

In a first-look trailer released by creator Dylan Fitterer, the latest video for Audioshield on the HTC Vive shows you what its like to play this music rhythm game in VR. In kind of a Guitar Hero-styled rush of notes, Audioshield slams notes down upon you from the sky in the form of blue, red and sometimes purple orbs that are generated based on the playable pattern of the song you pick.

The twist in VR unlike the rhythm pattern games you may be familiar with on Xbox One or PS4 is that you use your tracked hands to control a blue shield in your left and a red shield on your right to block the notes as the fly towards you in rhythmic succession. Since this is VR, there is no single plane where notes fly in on, but orbs can come in at varying heights and distances from you.

This is where the mixed-reality VR game trailer really shines. Watching the player clear in-air patterns of notes seems so intuitive – especially when he overlaps his blue and red shield arms to block the rare purple orb.

The trailer was shot with a standard camera set up behind the silhouetted player who is filmed in front of a green screen. The green screen is then removed in post-production and the player placed in front of Audioshield gameplay footage – making it look like the real-life player is interacting with the virtual game. When lined up positionally like Fitterer did in the trailer, you have a pretty fantastic VR game trailer on your hands.

Even though we know that Oculus will be bringing us Rock Band VR to the Rift hopefully sometime this year, from the looks of things, Audioshield could definitely tide us over in the meantime on our Vive.